Tips and Insight: Cake from a box

Cutting calories is easy when you substitute ingredients. Cake from a box is unhealthy enough, so we might as well add healthy ingredients instead of more fat and cholesterol, right?

Tonight, I made gluten-free chocolate cake from a box, but subbed out the fats, calories, and cholesterol. Instead of the 1/3 cup oil the recipe called for (636 calories), I subbed a 100-calorie 8oz serving of cherry Greek yogurt (yes, I am obsessed.) Instead of the 3 eggs, I used 2/3 cup egg whites (about 30 calories less).

Next time you make a cake from a box, try Greek yogurt/egg whites instead of butter, oil, or yolk.

Also, frosting is the biggest calorie culprit. Instead of piling it on, I used 1/8 a carton of Pillsbury Vanilla Supreme frosting and 2 teaspoons honey melted together. That makes a 365 calorie frosting instead of a 1,960 calorie frosting, aka the whole frosting carton. Eww.

Even on days when I indulge, I understand that small things add up. If the chocolate cake tastes the same, then we might as well have our cake and eat it too!